Cooks Source: plagiarists, thieves and scofflaws

As an author, I'm infuriated to read about the antics of Cooks Source magazine. Let one of their victims tell the tale.

I was contacted early last week by a friend of mine who lives in the Northeast about my "As American as Apple Pie - Isn't!" article that was published in Cooks Source magazine, mostly to inquire how I had gotten published. This was news to me, as I hadn't ever heard of this magazine before.

However, some basic Google-fu lead me to find them online and on Facebook. In fact, after looking at the Cooks Source Facebook page, I found the article with my name on it on on "Page 10" of the Cooks Source Pumpkin fest issue. (No worries, I have screencaps.) The magazine is published on paper (the website says they have between 17,000 and 28,000 readers) as well as being published on Facebook as well.

So. I first phone the magazine then send a quick note to the 'Contact Us' information page, asking them what happened and how they got my article. (I thought it could have been some sort of mix-up or that someone posted it to some sort of free article database.) Apparently, it was just copied straight off the Godecookery webpage. As you can see from the page, it is copyrighted and it is also on a Domain name that I own.

After the first couple of emails, the editor of Cooks Source asked me what I wanted -- I responded that I wanted an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine and $130 donation (which turns out to be about $0.10 per word of the original article) to be given to the Columbia School of Journalism.

What I got instead was this (I am just quoting a piece of it here:)

"Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was 'my bad' indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things. "But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"

I got nothing.

Scratch that. I sure as heck do. Let's go over the major points:

• At this point, I am mad as hell. It is now the principle of the thing -- and I also can not quite believe that my copyright was violated -- and then I was informed that I should *pay them* for editing it for me!
• The web is NOT public domain! Don't believe me? Try the University of Maryland University College -- or just Google it.
• I should be thankful because I wasn't flat out plagiarized? Don't college students get, oh, I dunno, tossed out for being caught for plagiarism? How is this a valid argument?

It gets worse. After the victim, Monica Gaudio, publicized Cooks Source's theft of her work (because theft is what it is), people began to investigate further. It turns out Cooks Source may have plagiarized articles from all over the Web, including major sites such as NPR, WebMD and Food Network. Someone's started a Facebook page where those interested can post links to any plagiarized articles they find, and the list is growing longer and longer. The news of Cooks Source's immoral and illegal actions is also spreading like lightning . . . I found out about it through an article in an Australian newspaper! If it's on the other side of the world already, that gives you some idea of the interest (and indignation) this is arousing.

To add to the fun, indignant consumers are bombarding Cooks Source's Facebook page with critical (and sometimes very funny) comments. Here's a screen capture of what it looked like earlier today (click the image for a larger, more readable view).




The comments just keep on coming . . . it's quite comical to revisit the page from time to time and see what new rude comparisons people have invented!

I understand the author of the article in question may not be able to afford legal action (which is probably what Cooks Source was counting on when they stole her work). However, I hope that the rest of us, being (mostly) honest men and women, can make them regret their actions. Please spread the news about Cooks Source and its contempt for copyright law and authors. I encourage everyone to boycott their magazine, and ask others to do the same. Furthermore, if anyone has contacts in Federal or State agencies that might take an interest in prosecuting such flagrant violations of US law, please pass the details on to them.

Peter